Dembélé has been given an ultimatum. Sign the contract or we’ll sell you now, Xavi tells him

Barcelona no longer has much time. Ousmane Dembélé still hasn’t signed a new contract and his current one expires in the summer. While the Catalans want to keep him, they certainly don’t want him to leave for free in the summer. So the Frenchman has been given an ultimatum.

Xavi as Barcelona coach wanted Ousmane Dembélé to stay in the team. He hoped to be able to build his team’s game on the French footballer. Unfortunately, that doesn’t look very likely.

The former Dortmund player only has a contract in Catalonia until the summer, he hasn’t signed a new one yet. There was a lot of talk in the media about his big financial demands, but his agent refuted that.

He said that Dembélé is not interested in money. The fact that immediately after overcoming the coronavirus he started the match without a single training session should have made him doubt signing the contract.

According to Xavi, however, everything is different. The Frenchman has reportedly told him that he wants to stay at the club, however, he has not signed a new contract. So the Barcelona coach gave Dembélé an ultimatum.

“The message is clear. Dembélé must sign a new contract or we will find a way to sell him now in January. There is no other option. We’ve been waiting for his decision for a long time, for five months now, I’ve been honest with him, we have to act in the interest of the club,” Xavi expressed in a press conference.

Dembélé came to Barcelona in 2017 for an astronomical 145 million euros, now his value is down to just 30 million. Even due to injuries, he hasn’t returned the investment in any way to Barcelona with his performances.

Bayern Munich were supposed to be interested in his services. There was also speculation about the interest of Newcastle United.

Source: Goal, FC Barcelona